War and Silence

I started this blog to supplement my daily dissertation writing, feeling that if I couldn’t spill something brilliant into m$ Word, I would just drop by and prattle on until something came to me. What I’ve found myself doing instead is either spending time with my wife and reading -or- watching CNN/MSNBC/ONN (Other News Networks) in the 7-click spectrum they occupy on my television set. I’ve dodged Misc. because, in some fashion, I feel like I have to say something about this war (to myself, if not the 3 people who are part of Misc.’s haphazard readership).

Unfortunately, I just don’t know what to say, much less how to feel. Disappointment that diplomacy went unaided by a careless and antagonistic “for us or against us” rhetoric. Fear and support for friends and strangers in the armed services. Disgust when I watched the ticker-tock of Wall Street approval in the form of a green arrow at the same moment that I saw a bomb hit a building for the first time – “live” on CNN. Disapproval of the policy that strikes me as arrogant. Hope that something humanitarian may evolve out of the destruction. Sorrow for the loss of life, on all sides.

I was relieved to see that even the media (at least, part of it) seemed to understand that someone could protest the policy and still support the troops. I’m intrigued by non-traditional media ‘outlets’ like The Agonist and the Bagdad blogger, Salam Pax. I find myself worried that important domestic policy is being decided upon but not really reported on – issues like the tax cut and drilling in Alaska. I feel heartened that an old friend (who served in the US Air Force and retired with 20+ years) and I could have an open, honest conversation about such a complex topic without raised tempers or hurt feelings.

I don’t plan to make this a forum for conversation about the war – there are plenty of those. And I’m not sure I really have anything terribly insightful to say about it. So, my writing goes back to narrative, games, and literature, which I hope to understand a little better than history.

Randy – Thanks for the encouragement. I usually have little problem saying too much 😉 , but like George, I’m still finding my blog voice. Since I write all sorts of things, from academic papers to (terrible) sci-fi/fantasy stories, how I speak varies as much as what I speak.

And, of course, with a subject like the current war in Iraq, I find myself torn in more directions than I have voices.